Northern France _ Boeschepe _ Auberge du Vert Mont © Anne-Claire Heraud

Our Michelin-starred restaurants: innovative, generous, accessible and showcasing the very best of the region’s convivial spirit

Hauts-de-France, the country’s first area to become a European Region of Gastronomy, in 2023

There are 16 Michelin-starred restaurants in Hauts-de-France that are perfect to savour as a couple – exceptional venues that express the region’s human values, with a new generation of locavore chefs using their generosity and inventiveness to create extraordinary culinary experiences, imbued with all the conviviality for which the northern French are known. Whether it’s at Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, in the Lille area or deep in the countryside, they deliver cuisine that’s good for both body and soul.

STAGE 1. ARMENTIERES

Get together in an unpretentious Michelin-starred restaurant that expresses the very DNA of northern France.

It’s in Armentières, opposite the UNESCO-listed belfry, that you’ll find Nature with its blend of authenticity and conviviality, both in the dining room itself and in its dishes: chef Nicolas Gautier and his wife Cecilia are the very essence of northern French hospitality. In this cosy little cocoon, you’ll feel almost as if you’ve been invited to dinner by friends. Dishes themselves are great northern French classics with a helping of that high-end, generous ‘Sauce Gautier’: for example, a Welsh in a baked-egg style sauce. This is Michelin-starred excellence at an accessible price: lunchtimes see three services of an affordable, seasonal set lunch made from regional produce. This is above all a warmly welcoming, calming restaurant perfect for a companionable interlude.

Nature, restaurant in Armentières

STAGE 2. LE TOUQUET

A tête-à-tête in Le Touquet-Paris Plage, in an iconic Michelin-starred restaurant

Bathed in the romantic light of the Opal Coast, pass through a majestic pine forest to reach a restaurant that really fits the mood: Le Pavillon, the restaurant at the Hôtel Westminster. A muted atmosphere, purple velvet and gilded hues create an ambiance as romantic as you could wish for, while the service is superbly attentive, friendly and discreet. William Elliott, chef of this Michelin-starred venue, takes your tastebuds on a journey across land and sea, based on daily market produce. Everything is refined and elegant in this lovely building with views of La Canche lighthouse from its terrace.

Le Pavillon in Touquet-Paris-Plage

STAGE 3. LA MADELAINE-SOUS-MONTREUIL

Let yourselves be surprised by the gastronomic experiences star chef Alexandre Gauthier has up his sleeve.

Northern France _ La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil_Restaurant La Grenouillère ©Papi Aime Mamie Studio

If you love quirky experiences, you’ll be thrilled by two-Michelin-starred La Grenouillère. Creative and innovative, chef Alexandre Gauthier is a culinary artist par excellence, one who breaks down ingredients in order to put them back together better and create original canvases. As you enter his fêted restaurant, put aside your preconceptions about food and allow yourself to be carried away into a highly personal universe of new associations (a dessert with celery!) and avant-garde, locavore dishes. And carried away by a dining room drenched in rustic luxe, nestled away in the Pas-de-Calais department countryside. This is a bewitching place that even offers wooden huts open to nature, with private terraces, so you can spend the night here and make the experience last longer. Advance booking is a must.

La Grenouillère

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STAGE 4. BOESCHEPE

Total immersion in the Hauts-de-France spirit thanks to chef Florent Ladeyn

At the Auberge du Vert Mont, local superstar Florent Ladeyn, who was discovered on the TV show Top Chef en 2013, is busy exploding all the codes of classic cookery. Passionate about his native Hauts-de-France and an ambassador for local, eco-friendly cuisine, Florent perfects and reinvents emblematic products. There’s nothing but regional ingredients here, so it’s out with coffee and in with chicory! His speciality? – a cone of chips with Maroilles cheese, wrapped in a fine layer of caramelised onions, in a nod to northern cuisine. And in the spirit of conviviality, the whole team comes down to your height when you are at the table: crouching, with one knee on the floor, they take your order with both complicity and simplicity. This Michelin-starred restaurant showcases its proud attachment to its region and has an simplicity that puts everyone at ease.

Eat at the Auberge du Vert Mont in Boeschepe

Northern France _ Boeschepe _ Auberge du Vert Mont © Anne-Claire Heraudrge du Vert Mont © Anne Claire Heraud

Northern France _ Boeschepe _ Auberge du Vert Mont_ Florent Ladeyn and Clément Dubrulle © Anne-Claire Heraud

STAGE 5. BUSNES

Indulge healthily in a Michelin-starred restaurant with nutritious fine dining

(Re)discover seasonal, regional flavours courtesy of Christophe Dufossé in his restaurant at the Château de Beaulieu in Pas-de-Calais. Committed to protecting the planet (as well as your wellbeing!), this nature-lover works hand in hand with the region’s producers and artisans: in his dishes, you’ll find green asparagus from the Ferme du Pont d’Achelles, snails from Hénin-sur-Cojeul, and lots and lots of northern French, cold-water seafood rich in Omega 3 and not overfished, including mackerel, herring, crab and langoustines – the very best of this coast. The chef even cooks with just-picked ingredients gathered from his own orchard and kitchen garden – it doesn’t come more healthy or with fewer food miles!